Starlight - Book Three - Rivers
This is the third book of Starlight! Read book one here! Prologue Cinderheart ran along her territory, feeling the wind in her fur. "Cinderheart!" She stopped in her tracks. Lionblaze. "What do you need?" Lionblaze purred, "I just want to run with you." They ran together, and Cinderheart beat Lionblaze to the lake. Chapter One - Sad News It was time for the Gathering. I padded over to Lionblaze. "Cinderheart, I have something to tell you," Lionblaze meowed. "Tell me," I mewed. "So, Bramblestar and I had a fight. He said that he was going to do something for the Clan that I didn't like. So..." I started to ignore him. "Are you ignoring me!?" snarled Lionblaze. "Oh, huh? No, of course not," I meowed. Lionblaze's fur was bristling. "Why should I believe you, Cinderheart? You must not be a good mate," he snarled. "You clearly don't care about me or my problems." Cinderheart's fur was standing on end. "That's not true!" Bramblestar called back to them, "you two, stop fighting!" So we padded on, but we still were looking at each other with nasty glares. I sat at the base of the tree, looking at the other deputies. "Hey, Reedwhisker, how's it going?" Reedwhisker purred, "Well." We were still waiting on WindClan and ShadowClan. Just then, WindClan cats poured into the clearing, and Onewhisker took his place on the great oak. Wait, Onewhisker!? "Tallstar must be ill," I meowed to Reedwhisker. Harespring came to sit beside us. "Huh? Harespring?" "Tallstar died," sighed Harespring. My eyes widened in shock. "How?" "We think he died in his sleep. We found him in his nest, dead." I had to stop myself from crying. ShadowClan was coming into the clearing, and Crowstar took his place on the great oak, while a black tom came to sit beside us. "Let's start the Gathering," yowled Bramblestar. He stood up to report. "All is well in ThunderClan. The prey is running, but we have had a recent betrayal. Thornclaw." Cats yowled in outrage, aiming it towards Thornclaw, who was in the crowd. Bramblestar sat down, indicating he was done. Chapter Two - Bad, Bad, Bad The rest of the Gathering had gone normally, but I had one fear. Mistystar had reported some warriors getting wounds in their sleep. Normally, I would just plainly assume it was a thorn, but after what had happened... I couldn't take any chances. "Cats," Bramblestar leaped onto the Highrock to report. Worry clung like a burr to me. I sat down anyway, curling my tail around my paws. "The Gathering went well. No clouds covering the moon." Lots of cats purred in approval, and as Bramblestar went on, I tuned him out. I had been there. I almost had fallen asleep by the time he finished. ".... so be careful," he finished. Be careful about what? I had to wonder. Probably the wounds. As I dove into sleep that night, I just couldn't forget. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The morning came regularly. I still had a sense of dread, though. Battles had been springing up more than ever, and ShadowClan had done so many bad things... It was the perfect time for the Dark Forest to strike. I cleared my mind of the thought. "Cinder?" I turned around. Lionblaze. "Forgiven me yet?" Lionblaze laughed. "At some point I must have." He sat down beside me, cuddling me into the morning. The light made the dew on the leaves glisten, and the greenleaf season was coming. I didn't particularly welcome the heat. "I need to sort patrols," I finally meowed. Lionblaze nodded. "Go on." First patrol. Second. They all kind of blended together. It's almost like I was waiting for a moment to come, and the time was passing while I was sitting there. When I finally finished, it was sunhigh. I leaped down, and went over to Bramblestar. "Bramblestar?" I called at the entrance to his den. "Yes?" "I have a concern." "What is it?" He beckoned me to enter the den. "I fear of the Dark Forest's return." Bramblestar looked troubled. "To be honest, so do I." Chapter Three - Ivypool's Fear I noticed Ivypool was getting more fearful. She would jump at every shadow, snarl at any cat shadow. "Are you worried about the Dark Forest?" I finally asked. Ivypool reluctantly nodded, "I am." "I understand. It's been getting to me. Must be terrifying to you, knowing the horrors of training there." Her eyes showed pain and regret, which led me to comfort her. "It's over, okay? It's all fine," I meowed. She didn't seem to believe me, but tried to hide it. She muttered a thanks and padded away. "Lionblaze?" I called. I saw him returning from his patrol, and his ears pricked up. He galloped towards me. "Do you need something, Cinderheart?" I nodded. "I need you to talk to Ivypool about the Dark Forest." His eyes widened. "What?" "She's very nervous, haven't you noticed? You trained there too, so I figure you would be best to console her." Lionblaze nodded, and ran off. I sighed in relief. For a second I thought he was going to refuse. I went on with my day. Patrols, hunting, sleeping. When dusk finally came, I settled into my nest. I looked at Ivypool's beside me, which was empty. The she-cat stalked in, and warily lied down next to me. "You know? It's okay," I meowed again. Ivypool gave me a glare. "I'm sick and tired of this nonsense!" she declared. "It will not be OKAY. Dark Forest cats are here, I'm sure of it." I rolled my eyes, hiding it from Ivypool. I laid my head on my paws, and closed my eyes. With my troubled mind, sleep came relatively early for it. Chapter Four - Shocking I woke up in my den, having a peaceful night's sleep. I turned to the side, to see Ivypool looking troubled. "Ivypool? What is it?" Ivypool took a deep breath. "I had a dream, where I was back in the Dark Forest." I stood, appalled, where I was. "Were cats training there?" "Yes. They were looking to recruit me again, but I declined." "Was anyone from our Clan there?" Ivypool looked a little hesitant, but finally meowed, "I saw Sparkpelt." I gasped. "Was she training?" "Why else would I tell you?" I sighed. "I always knew some disloyal warriors would lurk among our ranks." Ivypool looked dejected, and put her head on her paws. It looked almost like she wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again. How would I confront Sparkpelt? What if she harmed Ivypool? I shook my head. I could worry later. "Patrol time!" I called. I reached my station, where most cats were waiting. I gazed over them, and I spotted Sparkpelt. She looked tired, and had a new gash in her shoulder. "Sparkpelt," I hissed. Sparkpelt stood. "No need to hiss at me." It was time to expose her. "You've been training at night." She cocked her head. "What do you mean?" I knew she was trying to act innocent. "In the Dark Forest." She looked shocked that I knew this fact. "How do you know?" she cried. Cats glanced at her, looking shook. They had discovered that their once-loyal Clanmate had betrayed them. "I'm sorry," she screeched, "I won't visit them again." "It's too late now." Bramblestar came out of his den from all the commotion. "What's happened here?" "Sparkpelt is training in the Dark Forest." All heads turned to see Ivypool, standing up for herself. Chapter Five - Not The Same I could say that it wasn't the same, without Sparkpelt being her normal self. She seemed more aware, now that cats knew she trained in the dreaded place. "Cinderheart?" I whirled around to see Bramblestar. "What do you need?" Bramblestar looked a little confused. "Patrols? Remember?" "Oh... yeah. I was just lost in thought." Bramblestar nodded, and I was sent off. I saw cats cluster around me as I started to call off the patrols. Lionblaze, I didn't really feel like talking today. I sent him on a lot of patrols, just to avoid him. Hopefully he didn't complain. "Cinder?" I whirled around to yet another cat asking me something. I saw it was Sparkpelt. "Spark," I hissed, "Don't call me Cinder." Sparkpelt sighed. "I know you're mad at me." "How can I not be? You've trained in the Dark Forest." My pelt spiked up, just thinking about it. "I'm going to spy." I was shocked. "Like Ivypool? That's dangerous!" I hissed. She snarled, "If Ivypool can get through it, I can." "Don't snarl at me!" "Sorry." She turned away, looking dejected. I put my tail on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know that you're just a little stressed out, because you were trying to do good for your Clan, and now no cat trusts you any more." Sparkpelt smiled, and turned back around. "I knew I could trust in you, Cinderheart." She continued, "Are there any patrols I could go on?" "I'll send you on the dusk patrol." Sparkpelt nodded dutifully, and padded off to talk to someone. Cinderheart leaped off the rock, having organized patrols, and padded out herself. She decided taking a peaceful stroll in the forest couldn't do any harm... right? Chapter Six - Cinderheart's Worry Chapter Seven - Brambles Chapter Eight - Turmoil Chapter Nine - Relief Chapter Ten - Bramblestar's Announcement Chapter Eleven - Trainees Chapter Twelve - Leading Up Chapter Thirteen - Worries Chapter Fourteen - Battle Chapter Fifteen - Battles Pt. 2 Chapter Sixteen - Not Defeated Yet